Greening the Budget: Pricing Carbon and Cutting Energy Subsidies to Reduce the Financial Deficit in Germany

The Heinrich Boell Foundation North America has published a new report on greening the budget by pricing carbon and cutting environmental harmful subsidies. The report was launched on October 21st at a transatlantic panel discussion in cooperation with Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth.

The publication provides lessons on how greening the budget combines fiscal responsibility with the environmental sensibility that is inevitable for a sustainable future. Germany’s so called ecological tax reform, which is evaluated in the report, provides incentives for a more efficient use of fossil fuels by raising the price for coal, gas and oil through higher energy taxes. In doing so, it at the same time allows lowering taxes on labor, thus creating a momentum for new jobs.
 
At the panel discussion, Kai Schlegelmilch, co-author of “Greening the Budget” and vice-President of Green Budget Germany, presented key findings of the report and outlined how the said measurements have substantially contributed to reducing Germany’s financial deficit. In addition, Ryan Alexander, Taxpayers for Common Sense, and Ben Schreiber, Friends of the Earth, presented their joint report “Green Scissors 2010”, which takes an U.S. perspective on wasteful spending that harms the environment. Both reports come up with innovative approaches of saving money by saving the environment.

Click here to view the “Greening the Budget” report (click here for the German version)

Click here to view the “Green Scissors 2010” report